


A Fresh Start

by Jay_Lee_Leuis



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 14:27:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16536344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_Lee_Leuis/pseuds/Jay_Lee_Leuis
Summary: Deep Space Nine is something new, for both of them.





	A Fresh Start

Dax was charmed with Deep Space Nine. Delighted. She hadn’t been anywhere quite so vibrant in a very long time. Chaos simmered in every corridor, just below the boiling point. It took a certain kind of person to live in a place like this – the company was going to be interesting, to say the least. Poor Benjamin would be going gray within a month. But Benjamin, dear friend that he was, wasn’t exactly the sort of interesting that Dax had in mind. 

Unfortunately for the poor federation doctor who’d been following her around like a lost puppy since she’d arrived, there was one person who was particularly promising – and it wasn’t him. Major Kira Nerys, First Officer and former Bajoran resistance fighter. Dax had heard Benjamin hadn’t gotten off to a great start with his first officer, but Major Kira didn’t strike her as a person people often got off to great start with. But then, if there was anyone who could be an exception, it was Jadzia Dax. She would just have to choose the right moment.

The right moment was a bit longer in presenting itself than she might have hoped, but a Trill was nothing if not patient. Things had been a little busy -- between discovering the nearby wormhole, losing Benjamin in it, scaring away the Cardassians, finding Benjamin again, and probably changing the future of the entire sector, Jadzia had barely had the chance to exchange more than a hello with Kira.

But this could be her chance. Kira was standing near the comms station in ops, staring at the empty viewscreen with her arms hanging at her side. Jadzia briefly considered waiting until things had calmed down a bit more – after all, the Cardassian fleet had only just left – but in place like this, who knew when the next crisis would strike? She walked up to Kira and leaned casually against the control panel – only after quickly checking to make sure nothing was active. (That was a mistake you only needed to make once in seven lifetimes). 

“Expecting the Cardassians back?” she asked. “Seemed to me like Gul Dukat wasn’t too eager to stick around after Benjamin’s daring rescue. And besides, who would dare attack such a heavily defended station as DS9?” Jadzia only wished she could be there when the Cardassians figured out Kira had used their last – and only – six photon torpedoes for that show of force.

“I guess no one would,” Kira said with a small sideways smile. She shook her head and turned away from the viewscreen. “I can’t believe that worked. Do you think it’s always going to be like that around here?”

Jadzia shrugged. “Probably. We won’t be bored, at the very least.” She allowed herself a small smile. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

Kira stared at her. “You must be insane.”

Jadzia smirked. “Maybe a little. Live as long as I have, and you get pretty tired of routine.” She straightened up and leaned a hand on the edge of the console. “Speaking of keeping things interesting, I hear Benjamin convinced that Ferengi bar owner to stick around,” she said. “Care for a drink after work? I think after bluffing down an entire Cardassian fleet and staking a Bajoran claim to the first stable wormhole ever discovered, you deserve to have a little fun.”

Kira snorted. “At Quark’s? Can’t say that’s a place I’ve ever really associated with ‘fun.’”

“Well, maybe that’s just because you weren’t with the right company.” Jadzia grinned. “What do you say? I’m buying.”

“I guess if you put it that way.” Kira smiled. She had a wonderful smile, it crinkled her eyes and lit up her whole face, and Jadzia realized that in three hundred odd years, she’d never seen anything quite like it. 

“Great,” Jadzia replied, somehow not missing a beat even in the face of Kira’s weapons-grade smile. “I’ll see you there.” She smiled to herself. Curzon would have been so proud.

***

When Nerys had been assigned to DS9, she had expected to post to be short-lived and miserable, a brief diplomatic anomaly before Bajor slid back into chaos. Instead, she was helping to usher Bajor into a new age, serving side by side with the Emissary himself, although Sisko was still uneasy with the title. And the other Federation crew weren’t nearly as bad as she’d expected. A little naïve, sure, but surprisingly genuine and unfailingly friendly.

The science officer, Jadzia Dax, was particularly friendly. Dax was like no one Nerys had ever met before. She was so calm and poised, but she had a wicked sense of humor, she could tell stories that went back hundreds of years, and she had the most stunning eyes Nerys had ever seen. And If they had been spending a lot of time together, it certainly wasn’t because Nerys was _interested_ in Dax, it was only that Dax was – interesting. That was all. 

As self-delusions went, Nerys had to admit, it wasn’t a great one. She had managed to keep it up for a good week or so, and then one day she caught herself smiling as she walked past Quark’s on the way to ops. That’s when she knew she was in trouble.

Even more trouble, Jadzia had invited her to dinner. In her quarters. That did seem like a little more than just friendly, but that was the tricky thing with the Federation, they were _all_ too friendly. Nerys had to be misreading it, just one of those cross-cultural issues Sisko liked to talk about so much. That made a lot more sense than the idea that Jadzia Dax, the beautiful, three hundred-year-old trill who could have her pick of anyone on the station would actually be interested in her. 

But none of that changed the fact that she, Kira Nerys, was having dinner with Jadzia Dax. Tonight. She never should have agreed, she should have given some excuse. It wasn’t as if there was any shortage of work that needed to get done. It still wasn’t too late, she could always invent some last-minute emergency, but Jadzia had seemed so pleased. It wouldn’t be fair to run off at the last minute just because she had somehow managed to develop _feelings._ Besides, it would just put off the inevitable. Nerys had to tell her. It wouldn’t be right not to. At least, Nerys thought wryly, it would be a situation Jadzia was more than used to at this point; she had nearly everyone on the station swooning over her. And it wasn’t as if they couldn’t still be friends.

Armed with her best rationalizations and bracing for what promised to be a thoroughly awkward evening, Nerys marched up to Jadzia’s door and pressed the buzzer. 

“Come in, it’s open,” came Jadzia’s voice from inside. Nerys hesitated a moment, wondering if it really was too late to run away. That was ridiculous, of course it was, she was already here. She reached for the door controls, but it slid open before she could open it.

“Sorry,” Jadzia said with laugh. “I forgot that thing is broken -- I’m on O’Brian’s list, but I’m not exactly holding my breath. Come on in.”

Nerys followed her inside. Jadzia was wearing a long, simple dress in a light gray that made her eyes even more striking than they already were, something Nerys had thought was completely impossible. It was the first time she’d seen Jadzia outside of her uniform – and not that she looked bad in the uniform, but it didn’t quite fall across her body the way the light fabric of the dress did, or show that slight hollow at the base of her throat. She looked like something ethereal, a spirit out of a story. 

Nerys realized suddenly she had gone just a moment too long without saying anything. “You look nice,” she said. “The color brings out your eyes.”

“Just something I had in the bottom of a suitcase. I don’t think I’ve worn this in years,” She smiled, eyes sparkling. “It’s nice to finally have an excuse.”

Nerys firmly resisted the temptation to analyze that statement too closely. “And here I am still in my uniform,” she replied instead.

“Well, yours looks a lot nicer than mine,” Dax said. “That Federation thing is fine, but it’s not really the most flattering, don't you think?”

“I--.” Kira scrambled. What was she supposed to say that? Dax was right, the Federation uniform definitely didn't show off her figure the way the dress did, but she didn’t want to seem like she was staring. Was she staring? If she didn’t say something soon, she would be. “I’ve, um, never worn one.” 

Dax laughed. “Somehow I don’t think it would suit you. Why don’t we have a seat? Seven lifetimes of experience and I still can’t cook, but I did manage to bribe O’Brian into getting my replicator up and running ahead of time.”

Nerys knew she should really wait until after dinner at least, but this was intolerable, and there was no point in drawing it out. She had to tell her.

“Something wrong? I promise it’s not poisoned.” 

“No, it’s just-“ Nerys forced herself to take a small step forward. “Dax, listen, I’m sure this happens to you all the time, and I completely understand it’s probably just me, but,” Nerys paused for just a moment. There was no backing down now. “But I’ve. . . recently started to see you as something more than a friend, and, um. It’s not that I expect that to. . . go anywhere. I just felt like I had to tell you.”

Dax stared. “I guess I should have been more clear,” she started.

“No, no, that’s all right, I just—” 

Dax held up a hand. “No, stop, it’s not that.” Dax stood up and took Nerys by the hand. “I thought this was our third date.”

Every neuron in Kira’s brain short circuited. “Our what?” She managed to say.

“I mean, I’ve been flirting, you definitely didn’t seem to mind, we’ve been buying each other drinks for weeks,” Jadzia said. “Nerys, what did you _think?_ ”

“I--“ Nerys suddenly couldn’t help but laugh. “I just thought you were just being friendly.”

Jadzia started laughing too. “Not friendly enough, apparently.” She smiled impishly, and brushed a hand through Nerys’s hair, coming to rest at the back of her neck, and leaning in close enough that Nerys almost forget how to breath. “Allow me,” Jadzia murmured, so close now that Nerys could feel the puff of air against her lips, “to correct that.”

Jadzia kissed her, full of warmth and full of promise, and it was the best thing that had happened to Nerys since the end of the occupation. They parted after only a moment, and Nerys found herself laughing again. “If you’d told me a year ago I’d be standing here today, on this station, kissing a federation officer, I’d never have believed it.” She shook her head. “I’m _still_ not sure I believe it.”

Jadzia raised an eyebrow. “Anything I can do to convince you?”

Nerys brushed a hand along Jadzia’s hairline, tracing the spots that framed her face. She felt lighter than she had in years, and for the first time in a long time she could see a future for herself without the war she’d been fighting since she was old enough to hold a phaser. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nerys said with a soft smile. “Give me your best argument.”


End file.
